The impact of social and physical distancing measures on COVID-19 activity in England: findings from a multi-tiered surveillance system.

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Bernal, Jamie Lopez, Sinnathamby, Mary A ORCID: 0000-0001-6212-4672, Elgohari, Suzanne, Zhao, Hongxin ORCID: 0000-0002-1148-6240, Obi, Chinelo, Coughlan, Laura ORCID: 0000-0002-0300-4950, Lampos, Vasileios ORCID: 0000-0001-8555-2063, Simmons, Ruth, Tessier, Elise ORCID: 0000-0002-2712-7971, Campbell, Helen et al (show 19 more authors) , McDonald, Suzanna, Ellis, Joanna, Hughes, Helen, Smith, Gillian, Joy, Mark, Tripathy, Manasa, Byford, Rachel, Ferreira, Filipa, de Lusignan, Simon ORCID: 0000-0002-8553-2641, Zambon, Maria, Dabrera, Gavin, Brown, Kevin, Saliba, Vanessa, Andrews, Nick, Amirthalingam, Gayatri, Mandal, Sema ORCID: 0000-0003-3379-3118, Edelstein, Michael ORCID: 0000-0002-7323-0806, Elliot, Alex J ORCID: 0000-0002-6414-3065 and Ramsay, Mary (2021) The impact of social and physical distancing measures on COVID-19 activity in England: findings from a multi-tiered surveillance system. Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin, 26 (11). 2001062-.

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Abstract

BackgroundA multi-tiered surveillance system based on influenza surveillance was adopted in the United Kingdom in the early stages of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic to monitor different stages of the disease. Mandatory social and physical distancing measures (SPDM) were introduced on 23 March 2020 to attempt to limit transmission.AimTo describe the impact of SPDM on COVID-19 activity as detected through the different surveillance systems.MethodsData from national population surveys, web-based indicators, syndromic surveillance, sentinel swabbing, respiratory outbreaks, secondary care admissions and mortality indicators from the start of the epidemic to week 18 2020 were used to identify the timing of peaks in surveillance indicators relative to the introduction of SPDM. This timing was compared with median time from symptom onset to different stages of illness and levels of care or interactions with healthcare services.ResultsThe impact of SPDM was detected within 1 week through population surveys, web search indicators and sentinel swabbing reported by onset date. There were detectable impacts on syndromic surveillance indicators for difficulty breathing, influenza-like illness and COVID-19 coding at 2, 7 and 12 days respectively, hospitalisations and critical care admissions (both 12 days), laboratory positivity (14 days), deaths (17 days) and nursing home outbreaks (4 weeks).ConclusionThe impact of SPDM on COVID-19 activity was detectable within 1 week through community surveillance indicators, highlighting their importance in early detection of changes in activity. Community swabbing surveillance may be increasingly important as a specific indicator, should circulation of seasonal respiratory viruses increase.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Humans, Epidemiological Monitoring, United Kingdom, COVID-19, Physical Distancing
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Population Health
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	20 Dec 2021 09:50
Last Modified:	15 Mar 2024 14:39
DOI:	10.2807/1560-7917.es.2021.26.11.2001062
Open Access URL:	https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1...
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3145672